Management Research in Iran

Abstract One of the biggest challenges facing leaders is the need to empower them to adapt in the face of dynamic and turbulent environments. Research results indicate that individuals with a more developed leadership identity have greater potential for growth and success. However, in practice, in organizations, the process of developing leaders is generally focused solely on developing personal skills and competencies, and the development of the leader's identity is often neglected. On the other hand, the critical realism paradigm claims that by Multi-level Analysis of Reality, it reveals the underlying and hidden parts of phenomena and enables a deeper understanding of them. Therefore, the present study aimed to provide a framework for developing leadership identity based on the critical realism approach. The research strategy was meta-synthesis and the data collection tools were documents. The research findings led to the identification of 19 concepts and 4 themes for the development of leadership identity. The analysis of literature showed that "mechanisms and tools for developing leadership identity" in the context of "environment affecting the development of leadership identity" and under the influence of "other conditions" lead to "consequences" that It will develop leadership identity.